Posts Tagged ‘antarctic’

Scientists have found an ancient ecosystem below an Antarctic glacier and learned that it survived millions of years by transforming sulfur and iron compounds for growth. The ecosystem– because it has been isolated for so long in extreme conditions — could explain how life might exist on other planets and serve as a model for how life can exist under ice. Full Story : Sciencecodex.com….

A huge ice shelf that has shown recent signs of thawing is in danger of breaking free from the Antarctic Peninsula, the European Space Agency announced Friday. The shelf is a massive block of floating ice about 90 miles by 70 miles. The northern portion of the ice shelf was first seen and mapped in 1910 by by a French expedition lead by Jean-Baptiste Charcot. Full Story : Allheadlines.com….

Written on 20 Mar, 2008 at 12:11 in Nature | viewed 710 views times and users have made 0 comments so far

Giant sea spiders and huge worms are among the species collected by the Scientists investigating the waters of Antarctica. Some of the animals far under the sea grow to unusually larger sizes. The expedition is part of an ambitious international effort to map life forms in the Antarctic Ocean.

Written on 4 Mar, 2008 at 15:59 in Nature | viewed 518 views times and users have made 0 comments so far

Antarctic contains about 90 percent of the world’s ice mass and 61 percent of the world’s fresh water. It is estimated that the complete melt down of this ice sheet will raise the global sea level by 60 meters. A recent study by NASA’s Radar Science and Engineering devision shows that antarctic ice sheet is melting and that the rate of melting is increased in recent years. This finding considered exceptionally valuable among environmentalists.